Leader of Islamic State Claims Rome Will Be Conquered Next

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed caliph of the newly-formed caliphate across Iraq and Syria, has issued a statement that Muslims should utilize the month of Ramadan to escalate jihad and fight for Allah. Bagdhadi also said that Muslims should aim to take over Rome in order to "own the world."

"Those who can immigrate to the Islamic State should immigrate, as immigration to the house of Islam is a duty," he said in an audio recording released on a website used by the group formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham.

"Rush O Muslims to your state. It is your state. Syria is not for Syrians and Iraq is not for Iraqis. The land is for the Muslims, all Muslims.

"This is my advice to you. If you hold to it you will conquer Rome and own the world, if Allah wills."

This is unsettling, to say the least. Baghdadi has been described as the "most radical challenge" since Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaeda (of which he was formerly a member), and there are worries that his influence may spread into Afghanistan. Sunni insurgent groups have ripped apart Iraq, and the situation there is nothing short of a crisis. Something must be done to prevent this rhetoric and violence from spreading.